BioDialog: Intercultural Dialog through Biodiversity Informatics

Description

Ein Kooperationsprojekt der Universität Jena mit der Assiut University und der Ain Shams University, Ägypten und der Sfax University, Tunesien

This project serves to prepare a more ambitious three-year project aiming to bring together two vital topics: data management on the one hand and biodiversity research on the other hand.

The BioDialog project has the following main objectives: It aims firstly, to establish a scientific exchange, founded on regional expertise which allows understanding biodiversity and biodiversity informatics practices in their specific local context. Biodiversity and biodiversity informatics are common phenomena. However, they have different effects in different contexts which cannot be explained by a simple global approach. By means of discussions and studies, the project partners will try to understand these phenomena in their trans-regional and cross-cultural dimensions. By this objective, the partners further aim at supporting young researchers from Egypt and Tunisia as well as constructing a new regional research network. The second objective of the project, in addition to the scientific part, is to actively establish the new biodiversity informatics subject at the partner universities and to include it in teaching for both under and postgraduate students. The project also strives to learn how a specific, context-bound understanding of biodiversity informatics can be implemented in the teaching of biodiversity studies. With this objective, the partners can initiate and construct new curricula that are interesting in biodiversity and biodiversity informatics. The third objective of the project is to contribute the development of a knowledge-based society. Awareness of the importance of biodiversity is crucial to ensure its global preservation. The main aim of biodiversity informatics is to establish the ability to manage a process and integrate heterogeneous large data sets. This is maybe the most important expertise in tomorrow’s knowledge-based societies. It supports the establishment of societies that improve human conditions.  For more information, please visit our website, BioDialogExternal link.